Incinerate Anthem

Hello hello, we are back to Longinus rants! This time, our topic is one of the Holy Relics, Incinerate Anthem. With that in mind, I'll be referencing both DxD and Slash Dog novels. Let's get in quickly:

1-Base Form:

>That instant, many giant purple fire pillars start to grow around the town!

>What the heck is that!? Why are there so many fire-pillars appearing!?

>"-Purple flames. An opponent who is hard to deal with sure did appear."

>When I look around after hearing a familiar voice-I witness Gondul-san. Looks like she came here from the assembly hall. Gondul-san looks up at the giant purple fire pillars with disgusted eyes. The fire pillar has the shape of a cross.

>"...This is the "Incinerate Anthem"!"

>Rias shouts as she looks up at the fire pillar.

>"..."Incinerate Anthem"! The Longinus possessor who is affiliated with the Maverick Magician's group, "Hexennacht"!"

>Gondul-san then says.

>"The fire-pillar is built as if it is surrounding this town. That's one of the replicas. There's nothing but death for Devils that touches them and even the Magicians will turn into ashes. ...I did hear that she is helping the Khaos Brigade, but I never thought she would actually show up here..."--Volume 17, Life 3, Part 1.

>In this state of heightening tension, a loud ringing voice resounded from up in the sky.

>"Hmph, one of the God Slaying Tools(Longinus), 'Crucifixion by the Purple Flame High Priest(Incinerate Anthem)'. So the user is the Witch of the East from Oz."

>Looking in the direction of the voice, Tobio and the others could only just make it out.--Volume Slash/DOG 2, Chapter 5, Part 2.

One of the Holy relics, Incinerate Anthem, also known as Chief Mourner's Crucified Stand of Purple Flame, is one of the original 13 Longinus and represents the Holy Cross that Jesus was Crucified on.

In its base form, the Sacred gear has no physical form but it allows the wielder to manifest and manipulate intense purple Holy Flames. We see these Flames shaped into many forms and used in all kind of manners:

☆Create giant cross pillars made of Holy fire:

>When I look that way-I see a purple flame pillar that reaches high up the sky. ...It has the shape of a cross.

>Walburga huh. That's the southern part of the school! I'm sure the one in charge over there is Rias and Bennia!

>I then hear a voice from the magical device in my ears which acts as an earphone.--Volume 17, Life 3, Part 4.

☆Create a giant holy flame barrier using many Holy Cross Pillars: This barrier on top of being very strong also cam repair itself:

>That instant, many giant purple fire pillars start to grow around the town!

>What the heck is that!? Why are there so many fire-pillars appearing!?

>"-Purple flames. An opponent who is hard to deal with sure did appear."--Volume 17, Life 3, Part 1.

>There's another barrier around this town besides the one covering the whole region which shunned us from the outside world. On top of that, the Purple Flame's cross have us completely surrounded. We tried to escape from here, and even if we blow away the double layers of shielding from the protection wall and the cross, it would be repaired immediately."

>The ones that attempted that were Xenovia and Rossweisse-san. We tried to destroy the barrier and the cross of fire using the attack of Ex-Durandal and Rossweisse-san's offensive magic and de-spell magic. It could be destroyed, but it would then quickly repair itself so we couldn't find any openings. If we can destroy them for at least ten seconds, we would be able to take the civilians outside...--Volume 17, Life 3, Part 2.

☆Using Holy Crosses to snipe the enemy silently:

>It happens when I was screaming in joy inside my head for our victory-.

>A giant fire pillar appears next to me-. A purple flame. It has a shape of a cross-.

>When the fire disappears, I see Sairaorg-san who is burned all over his body and has smoke coming out of him.

"......"

>Sairaorg-san falls on the spot silently.--Volume 17, Life 4, Part 1.

☆Manifesting Holy Crosses anywhere the user's want:

>I also fly up into the air in order to take down the mass-produced Evil Dragons-but something which I can't ignore appears within my sight! Walburga-directs her hands towards the school!

>That instant, -the cross of fire arises within the school yard! She blows away a section of the school!--Volume 17, Life 4, Part 2

☆Using Holy flames as a barrier blanket:

>"Aim for that witch!"

>Rias's command! We, her servants, change our target from the Evil Dragons to Walburga and head towards her, but the witch makes the purple flame appear around her as if its surrounding her!

>"Ohohohoho! Those flames will give critical damage to Devils simply by touching them!"--Volume 17, Life 4, Part 2.

☆Rapid firing Holy Flame Crosses like a machine gun:

>While we are having a hard time battling, Walburga doesn't rest her hand and continues to shoot the crosses of fire at the school yard! Kaichou and Rossweisse-san's magic-circle starts to crumble after receiving two or three of Walburga's attack! They are in a situation where receiving another attack from her will put them in a dangerous situation, but Walburga shoots more crosses of fire! Walburga has already shot by the time we overcome the Evil Dragons and reach her!--Volume 17, Life 4, Part 2.

☆Covering or creating a sword and bullets with Purple Holy flames:

>The recovered Lint Selzan produced purple flames from her entire body, and the sword in her hands was set alight. The sword of purple flames released a flaming aura towards the opposing swordsman! The injured opponent simply could not withstand the pain!

> <<Lint Selzan-senshu's purple flames have swallowed her opponent! Her opponent is unable to resist at all and has been retired!>>--Volume 23, Life 2, Part 3.

>Having left those words, Ouryuu then faced Lint Sellzen. Lint was holding a sword made of purple flames along with a gun with purple-flame bullets. She then prepared herself and said.--Volume Shin 2, Middle Game, Part 5.

See, normally this would be it, except I actually lied, more specifically the DxD novel

With this, we have covered all basic abilities. Now onto the Balance Breakers.

2-Balance Breaker: Something I will address is the fact we have 2 Different balance breakers at hand, so I'll be dealing with them one at a time:

>As Lint said that, she let out a tremendous aura on her whole body along with the last brilliance. The purple flame that enveloped her body then became wild and burst open!

>"It's my Balance Breaker."

>The enormous amount of purple flame then formed into something. -Three Angels composed of purple flames appeared. They were two male Angels and a female Angel who looked like her. Lint then said,

>"Hehe, this is my Incinerate Anthem's sub-species Balance Breaker, [Lovely Heavenly Angels]. They are based on Sieg-sensei, Freed-aniki and myself."--Volume Shin 2, Middle Game, Part 5

This is Lint's sub-species Balance Breaker, it allows her to manifest 3 Angels made of Holy flames. These angels are very strong, can regenerate, Shape-shift and explode:

>Lint then used those three Angels to fight! Ouryuu knew about Lint being able to use Angels as he saw a recording of a match where she used her Balance Breaker. She had used them during the game between Team [Rias Gremory] and Team [Hakuryuukou of the Morning Star]. Although at that time, the purple-flamed Angels were giants... Nakiri then concluded that she could change their size at will. But above all, he had to be careful with these Angels, as each of them had a troublesome form-changing ability. There being three of them must mean that there were three possible forms. Ouryuu calmly deduced that coming in direct contact with them would be dangerous.--Volume Shin 2, Middle Game, Part 5.

Next we have:

>Walburga spread her arms out! A roar came from behind her, and then purple flames ignited behind her, forming the shape of a cross!

>"Well then, I'll let you experience it! My Balance Breaker!"

>Walburga lifted her spirits in one breath, and the purple flames responded by expanding greatly! They gradually changed shape, continued to grow, and eventually formed a certain shape! That was an extremely large cross! And tied onto it was a large eight-headed Dragon! It was massive! Its enormous body was around two hundred metres in length!

>However, I was familiar with that thing! It was Yamata no Orochi! No wonder it seemed familiar. Just the other day, I fought against the swordsman who was manipulated by it!

>Walburga stood in front of Yamata no Orochi which was made of purple flames as she said.

>"This is my subspecies Balance Breaker, [Incinerate Antiphon Calvario] ♪"--Volume 19, Life 3, Part 3.

It seriously feels like no one wants to use just the regular balance breaker, but anyways, this is Walburga's Balance Breaker. It basically allows her to manifest the being she Crucified the soul of, said being will have a body made of Holy flames and will retain all their abilities: Fire example if they had Venom, they can still use Venom, etc... Here it is:

>"I've heard about the ability of the current user of the Holy Cross. It changes its shape and features depending on the object which is bound to the cross. Yamata no Orochi has been bound currently, isn't that right?"

>So her subspecies Balance Breaker actually had this kind of ability! After hearing this, the witch said.

>"Yaegaki-kun's sword only had half the soul of [Yamata no Orochi] in it, while the remaining half was absorbed by my purple flames. That's because this Longinus's true form is an independent type♪"

>...Of all the things to absorb, it was an Evil Dragon! Using a holy relic to bind an Evil Dragon's soul, and then reproducing its power, was really quite chaotic!

>However, although it was an Evil Dragon, its body was made of the holy relic's flames. Devils would inevitably be annihilated if they touched those flames. However, there was someone who bravely took a step forward.--Volume 19, Life 3, Part 3.

And finally, we have this:

>Beside them, the flame giant which was carrying a cross swung it with great vigor. From the cross that was swung, purple flames on a fierce scale sprung forth, which rushed towards Lavinia's ice princess.

>The ice princess crossed its four arms, and multiple layers of ice pillars grew from out of surface of the bare rocks and orientated on the giant.

>The purple flames and ice pillars collided, creating a grand explosion.--Volume Slash/DOG 2, Chapter 6, Part 2.

Augusta's Balance Breaker and canonical the first one, it materialised in the form of a Giant wielding a cross that could summon Purple Holy Flames from each strike.

Now something I would like to mention is that I am actually not sure of this is the Sacred Gear's name form or Balance Breaker. The reason I am confused is that they actually never said this is a Balance Breaker, and considering that Walburga said that the Sacred Gear's true nature is Independent Avatar Type, it may be that this form is just Augusta's base Longinus.

But in any case, with this, we have reached the end of this Longinus, I only have 2 facts to share about and wrap things up:

--Incinerate Anthem is sentient and Independent: Normally speaking, some Sacred Gears have consciousness inside them, Boosted Gear, True Longinus, Canis Lycaon, etc... This is nothing new, Incinerate Anthem too have a consciousness, whether it is a soul sealed inside or just a Sacred Gear consciousness is up to debate.

What is interesting however about this Longinus is that it's independent from its wielder. Basically this Longinus can leave its current wielder and go into another if it feels like it. It can also stay behind after the wielder's death instead of just, returning back to heaven's system. This is super weird as it's the only known Sacred Gear to have this ability. Here:

>"...This can't be real, why have my purple flames been...?"

>Walburga was frozen on the spot because of the impact of having her Balance Breaker cut in half by an attack! I relentlessly used the wyverns to increase my power, preparing to fire Crimson Blaster!

>"...The Evil Dragon couldn't entirely be tied to the Holy Cross...? But the [Chief Mourner] in my body clearly said before that it was possible...!"--Volume 19, Life 3, Part 3.

>Walburga was hit...endured my Crimson Blaster without significant injuries. It looks like when she was hit by the attack, she had already created a new defensive barrier. But, because she fainted, she was tied up on the spot and transferred to a certain department of the Underworld. ...Although it was discovered after Walburga was defeated.... There were purple flames which fell beside her. Ikuse Tobio-san who seemed familiar with it had to use a special lantern to collect these flames. Ikuse-san said

>"This Longinus is different from the other Sacred Gears which will move on to their next host, but there are also circumstances in which it will move towards its host. Although this is that witch's Sacred Gear, there is also the possibility that it will become someone else's Sacred Gear afterwards. If anything, this Sacred Gear seems like it is hosted within a person's will, and has the special ability to change its host. Therefore, if it isn't collected, it will wander about in search of an owner."

>So that's what it was. ...Such a Longinus exists. So this was an independent type? W-Well, Sairaorg-san's Lion was transformed from an axe.... Vali's and my Longinus were also undergoing incredible changes. Longinus contained within them extraordinary abilities beyond ordinary Sacred Gears.--Volume 19, New Life, Part 1.

--Besides that, the other fact I wanted to mention is one i forgot to add in a previous rant, but will be editing it there soon: All Holy relics are super effective in breaking through any kind of "Seal": Defensive Barriers, Sealing Barriers, etc... Here:

>" Hell yeah! We are currently trying to unseal each of the seals desperately! Though it would have been easier if we had the Holy Spear to break the seal-spell into pieces. Well, the progress for it is going smoothly due to the cooperation from the Holy Grail and the Holy Cross."

>They are going to break the seal using the Holy Grail and the Holy Cross!? The holy relics really are being misused!--Volume 16, Life 4, Part 1.

>Walburga is in shock! When we also look up-there's a crack on the white sky! That is proof that something happened to this giant barrier that is covering this whole region!

>The crack gradually gets bigger and the barrier starts breaking!

>Eventually the Underworld's unique purple sky can be seen!

>-The barrier is destroyed!

>Who was it!? Who did that!? We are the only ones inside! Someone most likely attacked and destroyed the barrier from the outside! Just who on earth broke the barrier-.

>A single flash descends in front of us like a shooting star. That flash impales the school yard.

>We become deeply shocked at seeing the object that is impaled on the school yard!

>-True Longinus!

>...Seriously!? Why did that spear come down!? That thing's possessor is already...!

>Everyone becomes speechless seeing that!

>Even though we wait, the owner of the spear doesn't show up. Then the Holy Spear disappears by teleportation!--Volume 17, Life 4, Part 2.

Keep in mind this is a Barrier so strong that Rias and Sona's peerages + Sairorg combined couldn't break it. This is a combination between a Barrier casted by Ladon, who's Barriers are stronger than those of Azi Dahāka, Boosted by the Replica Boosted Gear and Walburga' Holy Flame barrier.

Well, that's that, thanks for reading until this part, and see you next rant.